The Atlanta constitution. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, December 21, 1903, Page 6, Image 6

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Newspaper Page Text6 TflE GOBSTITOTIOH CLARK HOWELL Fditor "ROEY ROBINSON Business Manager Catered at the Atlanta Peateffice Seeeed Claes Jlafi Matter, !*•». 11. 1 THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTION, rnlv S: per annum. Club, of five, $1 each; clubs of ten. SI each and a copy to cetter-up of club. _ WF. WANT YOU—The Conatttutton wan's an agent at every postoffice In America. Agent a outfit free aM good terma. If you are not tn a elnb. we want you to act aa agent at your office. Write ua. CHANGE OF ADDRESS- When orde-lng al dresa of vour paper changed alwave <"'* old cs well »e the new address. Always give poetcffice. county and state. If your P a l’- 'a not received regularly, notify ua and • will straighten the matter. IF YOU SEND US AN ORDER for new tub scribers, pleas* allow ua * week t° ncmee on the Itot and paper • tart * d you write a complaint. a» we are very mucn ctcwded now. DO NOT FORGET to make your renewals n time Watch your direction when youi subscription expiree lh « sir month w. 1 be full of should nut miss a single copy of Con etitution. .en® your ordera at least s week in rdvane. to ma»a sure. It may not ak a week In every instance as a a • greatest diligence to get them on our mall air Hat. Our Commissioner in Colombia. At least in two notable matters Ihe Constitution's commissioner to Colom bia and Panama. Mr. Clifford Smyth, has justice the wisdom ami enterprise of this newspaper in sending him to those countries. correctly reported from Carta gena the set determination of the < o iomhians to make war on the repno lic of Panama and if neeessaij, against the United States, saou.d it attempt to protect the new republic nom r< -conquest. This information he nlainlv ami circumstantially proved, even when General Reyes, the Colom bian envoy was assuring our state department that there would be no military movements by Colombia pend ing his pr-'S'. nee and negotiations in this country’s capital. Mr. Sinvtii also was In advance ol all other sources of information in discovering the movements of Colom bian troop;- to the Gulf of Darien, and the t-stab. .di me nt of n permanent camp as the base of future military opera lions north of the Atrato river and ■ toward the Ofije* live of I’anaman tei- ; ritory. Events at C< ion and Panama are , covered by numerous news agencies, •' but. The Constitution's commissioner : has gone where the events of the fit- I turc- are t > be projected and when lie reaches Bogota will be at the storm- • enter and will, wo are sure, give our readers what we designed them to ■have the earliest, best and fullest information from that interesting 1 scene of aetion. A Delegate from Porto Rico. j A bill has be. n n ported in congress : to give to Porto Rico the right to , ’..(-t to the American . house of rei'fi. .‘ntatives, who shall sit I in that bout with all the rights and ' privilc. ■ accorded to deiegates ■ from organ "” ■! territories of the ; I’nited Stas.- and lue delegate from ' the territory ■ Hawaii, excluding him oni; Go'-: 'he right to vote on : pending legislation. At. present the ' •orto Rican c.vil government act. of i • '■ugn .'lily ..' ■■■..- ;t ■.evident com- j missioner t ■ th" I’nited States" whose .' sob? privilege is to slosh around ' A'ashlngton arm ‘make representa tions” to tie powers that be ' on behalf his people who ‘ continue to ! c Itizens of the • I'l'ited States. ’ Tiie proposition io allow Porto * Rico a delegat ■ raises afresh some in teresting questions. t la the first place the constitution of tin I’nited States d'."s not provide for the presence in the house or senate of any sc-1 of r. pr a-tuati zes except sen ators and r< pi- ? :it; tive.- chosen by “tht states ’ hi th" manner prescribed ; by law. Tcrritoi ial delegates sit in i he house now only by the grace of the ' house. and are < .'.tra-eoiistitutional personages. But granting that they are desirable > P' /sonaii'.- fi.- pleasing territorial sen- ’ and giving more or loss infor mation respecting ’.lu-ir constituencies, ihe question comes up as to how con- i gross can consistently admit a dele c: te ou rhe same footing from Porto Rico which is not an organized ter- i ritory, but oniy a possession" of the I’nited States governed even now by "a temporary act" of congress? The supieme .-ourt of the United States in the case of Downes Bid well. 21 Sup. Ct. Rep 770, said that ’ Porto Rico, by its cession became ter ritory appurtenant to, but not a part of the United States, within the mean ing of the constitution” If that Bill ' ‘every worded <!•?< : son is still good law it will require all the ingenuity of those traditional fourteen Phila dciphia lawyers to discover 'now con tcan ci insistent ,y givi Porto Rico > delegate in congress without first re- i organizing it Into a territorial status like that of Oklahoma, New Mexico or Hawaii. The Coustir iron is frank to sav that ft believes Porto Rico entitled to ■' i in congress, but only upon terms that accord with the past consistency of the inconsistent polity I of having any territorial delegates at all. What justice in the case demands, at any rate, is that Porto Rico be ' made a regular territory and that it ■ e accorded the home rule, i‘■presetita i;.-ii and free commerce that ‘•apper tains” to all other organized territor ies. Nothing short of this will be Just- Stand Pat on Cotton. The experts of the customs depart- : ment of the treasury estimate tint the ’ a lance of trade for the year now dos- I ing will be nearly $51)0,000.000 in f,..vor <>: the United States. Over thn e fifths of that comfortable sum is < hareeablo to the exports of southern cotton and the fact shows bow our great staple enters as a paramount factor into the international exchang s that mean so much to the prosperity of the nation. Two years ago our volume of im ports shrank dangerously, and that was due to the conditions in Europe re specting cotton. Then the English end continental spinners were loaded ■ up with surplus raw cotton, bought at the level prices of the two preced ing years. When our southern staple was at a price they deemed too high, they refused to buy, and so our ex ports suffered a set back that was not pleasant. But now the European mills are short of cotton and wholly de pendent on the American supply. They are buying it to beat the band, and our exports have been booming since October, so that had they been of the same ratio all the year the volume would have reached $2,000,000,000 and cur profits ben half that amount. In view of the above important trade figures the duty of southern cotton men is plain. Stand pat ou the cotton position of the season and do not sell a pound that is not forced to be sold. The world must have our cotton Make it pay for it all it is worth. Up to the Southern Senators. Senator Teller, of Colorado, is not at all backward in declaring that his state lias no particular interest in the building and service of the Pan ama canal and therefore he is indif ferent as to whether the treaty is rat ified or the canal constructed. Tiie reason for this frank and self ish attitude of Senator Teller is plain. He represents a state whose interests as to products and transportation are dependent now and always will be on the transcontinental railway lines. They do not want the canal and therefore he cares nothing about it. But as Portia said to Shylock, so say we to Senator Teller, ihat we thank him for his words. They should be drilled into the ears and understand ing of every southern senator, for tLeir states are all of them interested far more in tiie building of the' canal than in all the transcontinental rail ways now or ever to be built. If Senator Teller can afford to be indifferent to t'he necessity of the ca nal to fourteen great producing ami manufacturing southern states, then every southern senator should find in that fact fourteen times more rea sons why he should favor the canal and allow nothing to turn his vote against tiie treaty. The Constitution would not demean the intelligence of southern senators by trying to argue to them the vital importance of the canal to the future industrial development and prosper ities of the south. We know they understand that fact perhaps better than we could delineate it io them. But it is not amiss to say to some of them that they are sadly misjudging the desires and the determinations of the great business interests of the ajuth if they imagine that with im punity they can make a political foot ball of this great and now urgent is sue. At present there is no politics in the i anal question ;.s viewed by tiie business intelligence of the south. But if. for tiie flimsy and capricious reasons that have as yet been offered, the canal treaty is defeated by demo cratic action acquiesced in by south ern senators, there will be polities in the future affecting such representa tives that will give them endless troubles. The reason that Senator Teller gives for not caring a tinker's damn about the canal -because it will not benefit his state —should be matched by the solid support of the canal by southern senators —because it will tremendously and always hereafter benefit the states to which they owe aid and loyalty. —♦ That Florida Snip Canal. The Constitution notes with pleas ure that a number of western contem poraries have commented favorably upon the Florida ship canal measure which we recently, revived tor discus sion. The newspapers along the great rivers that find freigiiiagc on their bosoms to the mouth of uie .Mi--siesip pi for so much of their export prod uce trade are especially interested and say that the feasibility of building that (anal should be once more taken up by the national government. Tiie value of the canal to a 1 the gulf ports is patent on the fact oi the proposition. Il would shorten travel, time, cost and expenses of traffic be tweu them and the northeastern ports and Europe in ways so pronounced as te make it one ol the greatest of mod ern commercial conveniences. Galveston, New Orleans. Mobile and Pensacola are all of them directly and vitally interested-to an incalcu lable extent in. securing this new cut off route and the trade of the entire Mississippi vaih ;>• aim the western corn and wheat states would gi■■•ally profited by it. The surprising thing to us is that as yet no one i i' the cities interested, on either side of the Florida peninsula, has had tiie foresight and enterprise to call a convention to consider this splendid public work and inauguratr' ways and means to .secure its under taking by the government. It is also a magnificent chance for seme southern senator or congress man to step to the front, champion the canal and make his name famous by the event of its construction. Reciprocity Is Democratic. It was a very timely ami proper tiling lor Leader Williams, of the dem ocratic side of tiie house of represen tatives, to emphasize and put on rec ord clearly dial reciprocity is not a republican invention, but. has been a time-honored principle in tiie demo crat ie creed of the country. Betause it was seized upon by Mr. Blaine, while secretr.ry of state, a? a convenient method lor widening Amer ican markets in foreign countries the idea lias bee '• allowed to prevail that he invented the policy. More recent ly. since some republicans have urged that McKinley meant to '.mforee the Blaine poli< : . and that it is tlio > safe way to compromise matters ■ tween the .\m<rican manufacturers and American producers ot loodstulfs and raw niaieriais, and so itioad'-i market, abroad for both, the. public mind ims he n misled into thinking that the contention is wholly a repub lican one. But the truth is as Congressman Williams stated it on the tioor of the house I'lte democrats have from the b> gin.ling < I tariii agitations in litis country lavon I the policy of reciproc ity. Even if it was not always called by that name, the tact remains that mutual trade irait'k'S which would on couragt- excm.’iges of products be tween this and oilier countries, with out destruction io tiie home indus tries of eitlter, but to il.e profit, of (onsumers in both, has been the chief democraiic. alternative for prohibitory THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTION: ATLANTA, GA., MONDAY, DECEMBER 21,1903. THE CANAL AS A PARTY ISSUE. The proceedings in the senate democratic caucus on Tuesday reveal a situation that needs to be dealt with in did uncertain way. On the question of binding democratic senators to any measure as a party issue, the requirement being the concurrence of two-tliirds of such senators, which is twenty-two, the vote was nearly unanimous. That action is not out of accord with traditional party discipline. On the question of making opposition to the ratification of the Panama canal treaty a party duty, binding oil ail democratic senators, there were eleven of the twent-y-six senators present who voted against a resolution to consider the question in caucus at all. These eleven are one-third of the full caucus and if there is no other democratic senator like-minded with them they will be outvoted and united democratic op position to the Panama treaty will be forced as a paramount party duty. Nothing we can conceive of at this junctiure could be more calam itous to the democratic party of the nation than to have its represen tatives in the senate take that action The Panama canal matter is not a party issue, but a great and world-wide commercial issue whose realiza tion has already been too long delayed. The greater part of the civil ized world applauds the present status of the canal question aS produced by tiie Panama secession and the recognition of the Panaman republic by the United States, with the negotiation of the treaty now offered for ratification. The simplest observer of popular tempers in this country cannot mistake how the American people feel about this matter. They approve what has been done to date, they want and mean to have that canal, and they will visit their wrath upon whatever man or party may defeat their wishes. The defeat of the treaty would simply delay the canal and enrage the people. Thai defeat would be fatuous and fatal to tho popu larity of i lie party producing it. It would give no prestige to the democ racy, but would give to the republicans the largest and best issue against, the democracy that current political conditions could afford them. There is no use here to go over the history of the Panaman pro ceedings. They are accomplished facts and facts must be dealt with candidly. They caunot be dodged or eluded. And tiie critical question with the democratic senators now should be what good can be done by opposing and, if possible, defeating the Panama treaty? If they think it wise to put the democratic party in opposition to the popular desires of the vast majority ol' the nation, then they will vote to oppose the treaty. If they tiiink it. wise, in the face of the waning commerce abroad of the nation, to delay the. canal until the republican party can take full control of it and credit for its construction, and so lose the historic vantage of our party on this great, matter, they will vote to oppose the treaty. li lib y wish to destroy utterly the rising hopes of the entire, south to improve their industrial and manufacturing export trade, with south Pacific and Oriental markets, and so turn us over completely to the commer cial policies and dominion of the eastern section of the country, they will vote Io oppose the treaty. If they wish to send the defeated treaty to the country in the Lands of the republicans, crying: “Behold, with all our sins ot grail aud loot, we did not assassinate this thing! Trust to Roosevelt and to us and we will revive and establish it !” and so win a hands-down victory over tiie democracy, they will vote to oppose the treaty. Smators Bacon and Clay are to be commended strongly, for their determined opposition to the making of this purely business question a caucus part.' issue The senators from Florida, from North Carolina, from Arkai; as ami from Louisiana are equally united and cotirgeous against such a- tion. Senator Cockrell, ol Missouri, must also be included for praise because he resist:.; tiie dangerous proposition to commit tho democracy to the defeat of the treaty. But where are the other southern senators whose states and peo ples arc as profoundly interested as any of their sister states of tho gulf and seaboard in this great international highway? Surely, they will not enter into the folly of making the democratic party the enemy of the canal! c nators who are ■ the ere< the treat question into a party if me The Constitution sends its Zfcouragement and urges them to persist, to persuade their colleagues .nd in every posMI ■ ; legitinmie way endeavor to deieat the am : " : , { com- mitting our pat'.y to the rejection of the treaty cation of the canal question. ■*' They will do a patriotic service to tho country, they will do a splcn- ,. W ork for the democratic party, they will become imi benefactors of tiie future prosperities of tiie south, it they can make good in their fight and keep this canal question wholly aloof from party politics. The event of the caucus over this matter will have an enormous effect upon the iiiture hopes and chances ol the democratic party. Iho oei i.-iou is a supreme one when the best interests of the country should he th- prime concern of the party! tariffs for three-quarters of a ceu tury. B j.s well mat the democrats in con gress should not let. this truth slip ami permit tin- republicans now, or later, to palm it off ou the country as on' of their inspired inventions. Northern Men in. the South. An evidence of how far-reaching ami la: tit:;; partisan misrepresentation can be when now, nearly lorty years tiller the clost ol the civil war, men of busim ss and general intelligence in northern stai"s stiii write letters of inquiry to sot.tlr rn authorities con cerning the reception they, or their capital ami onierprisi s. will meet with should t.licj 'ome to this section. The Constitution since its establish ment years ago has lost n< ver an op portunity to make plain to the coun try at large the full and undeniable truth that, there exists in the south no prejudice against the incoming of northern men as follow-citizens with us ami that, their business endeavors in wliatev'. r line of industries wiil not only be welcomed, but accorded equal ly as just tr atment in every regard as is given to the enterprises of our own people. We have made this so well under stood by thousands that. Georgia is today the happy ami prosperous home of tens of thousands of people who ■ have come into every section of the stale from the states north of the Po tomac and the Ohio. Georgia is a slate of wonderful re sources needing the presence of en terprising mon ami the tranm'orming toilet; oi "apital. Scatvely any state in the union offers gr■•ao r and t inter s to the agriculturalist, horti < uliiiri. t, ;■ .•i.r.ni: i'. miner, qttarry mini ami manufacturer of whatever products catt be wrought o! cotton, wool, wheat, wood, iron, marble, slate or cement. \ad the people of no state in the u io:i are more inclined to give a glad hand anil a he rty porsotml co cperi'.tion to all who come here to ex pand and enrich tiie Greater Georgia of the future. . Tita! <mr people are cordial, liberal ami hospitable and that our govern- , menial agencies are just and protec- | live to every good man and righteous interest. <an be testified to by tb.ou sands of norl'ii* ,’? men who are now in Georgia living, laboring and prosper ing even as those to tho manner born i and who are th ’it’ daily a: .-iteiates j amt ’part net’s. Writing on this point, Mr. Noah H. , Swavn l ', second president of tho Ala bama and Georgia Iron Company, of Cedartown, in this state, says: I w,s at once *'> lially ret'clved and v -..' ::ih! !:■ ve , v,T sinci- been eori- staiit!? m id" t.» f" l tb.it 1 v,:s ,:•;>> i-t"d to ‘bar,* ii ih" social and the public life of the eommimity. (.Mr. Swayne is now an aldonnan of tho town.) The cwp ■)!■ nr- <>f this corporation has i been equally satisfactory. Its property ■ has been justly appraised and taxed and ‘it has ia- .1 eqiut.ibl.t t. tea tel m tiie : co,iris. Tim judges Live been llberal ; minded and just. The juries to which its ■ ,i ".s have la-eii submitted have been fair i and impartial. What greater tribute could be paid to any community than Mr. Swayne thus pays to the-people of Cedartown ; —a north Georgia, town that has prof , ited splendidly by this policy of fra ternity and justice? The same story, in varying terms of detail, can be had from hundreds oi other towns in , Georgia, where northern men have be- I come factors in the development of the resources ami industries of the state. „ • No man anywhere need fear to come ; tc Georgia with his family, his trade, his capital or bis . nterjirise. Here he i will find that the man counts for more i than birth, or rank, or bank account. I The honest, industrious and helpful ■ newcomer, whetht-r poor or rich, will i be act orded full welcome and opportu i nily to make himself an equal lellow ' citizen with us ail. 'ria? more fully 1 these things are understood in the north and west the sooner will we be gin to realize returns from them and to know ihat. the Greater Georgia is growing into its glory. That Constructive Recess. The constructive recess trick at tempted by the president on the sen ate is a bad piece of business from any point of view. Time is a counta ble thing and intervals ol it can be marked only by consciousness, the clock or the sequence of events. All three of these methods of apprehend i mg an interval between the adjouru | mint sine die of the extra session and I the commencement ol the regular ses ' sion are squarely against the conten tion of the president and his ill-advis ers in I lie case It is impossible to say what the senate will finally do about the mat . ter, but it will amaze the sensible peo ! pic ot’ the whole nation it it allows : itself to lie jockeyed with in such fasit | ion. Still, the senate majority is a. ; well-drilled and sufficiently audacious : body of partisans to swallow the flc j tion ami the insult to itself at one i guli>, if partisan necessity makes it I the quickest ami safest way out of a I disagreeable dilemma. i But if sm h strange and unconstitu : tional acts are to be condoned, as they . will be by an acceptance of tiie con- I struetive recess theory, there is no ex -1 travagance of interpretation of con ; stitutional limitations that will not be- I come imminent and operative when republican emergencies may demand ; ’ 1 • The, case is one for serious rat nor ‘ than ribald consideration. It should, lat least, alarm straightforward patri otic citizens to the necessity of chang ing the present ©ttcupant of the white house for a president who believes in the constitution's inviolability anti his own obligation to support and de fend it. What the Democrats Can Do. The democrats in congress have thus lar shown more of wise restraint and good strategy than in many years, especially those years immediately preceding a presidential election. The situation politically is one that is continually brightening at the dem l ocratic end, and if the democrats of congress will only caucus closely and decide carefully upon their policy be tween now and next .June, they t an do magnificent worn in bringing the par ly upon tho. national field in winning form. So far as the nomination of Presi dent Roosevelt, i • the republicans is concerned, the democrats need not worry. Let him be nominated. If tiie democracy cannot beat, him they could hardly hope to beat any repub lican. He has saddled ami bridled the party and is riding it rough and hard. He is making independent republican voters every day. So long as he is doing that the democrats can afford to let him caper and curvet as lie will. That the great conservative busi ness interests of lite country are afraid of a second trial of Roosevelt is ‘ too plain to bear contradiction. He , may go mildly enough now. while the j question of Lis. nomination and elec i tion are pending, but with these as ; sured and the ides of March, 1905, I passed, only the Omniscient can tell j what Roosevelt would then do. He is ■ out to be elected president on his own personal account. He means, if elect ed. to make a Roosevelt record that will stand out in presidential annals as one altogether unique aud individ ual to the end of the republic. If is no wonder that a man with his nerve, ambitions and hetmtuess should be feared by those who see the inter ests of the cottnity standing in jeop ardy every day with such a man in the white house. As to Roosevelt, s he democrats need onry to find a. wise, stable and eonstitutional democrat ot clean record and unquestioned patri otism. Betwei. a the two the choice will not be hard lor any democrat nor for hundreds of thousands oi conserv ative republicans. Another thing the. democrats can and should do is to press home upon the republicans the maniiold frauds that have been developed iu the va rious departments ot tiie government. As to them the case today is worse titan in the days of the Grant regime of graft and loot. U is the duty of Um democracy to keep these tiling- 1 - be-ott the people and not to be deterred bj the glea that discussion 01 them will hamper their prosecution in the courts of law. Titty are crimes political as well as crimes prohibited by law, and tiie party that has P'-'M'med them should be indicted and arrmcned be fore the American people. 'I he eon. mon folk want honest government. They do no' believe in leaden-tooled prosecutions or in statutes ot limita tion loopholes for the escape ot pubnt plunderers. 1 nder no cit cumstani' o should the democrats in congress fail to call In every possible form lor the. exposure of the crimes of republican officials made possible by the meth ods of republican administration. The democrats can piirstie the re- . publican:, upon tiie issues of tariff re- . form. The stand-pat policy of t.ie Hanna republican crov d does not Please many thousands ol republic an voters, eith r in eastern or western states. Tiie refusal io promise mem a revision of schedules that rob tiie people for ’hf profit of the trusts is making them resth s. It is lamstu-' enough of them may vote with the democrats for tarilf revision to <ait>w the republicans the loss of the presi dency and tii" house, of represem.u Lives in lad*!. Tiie currency eowardi..e of ihe re publicans is another thing the demo crats can properly assail. All '.lie peo ple want sound money ami elastic cur rency and the democrats can promise these without stuliilieation and with groat gain to the party ranks. Other loose joints in the republican > harness are plentiful and it will nc’ be hard for th<‘ unit' d domocmcy m , make strong and deep wotttms In that. ; party if tact and wise jmlgmcnt are , used in making the campaign. Tiie Const! ution believes tl ? ropttb i lican part?/ was never so vulnerable: as it is today. Its sins are many. It • is a growing offense to the wiser mon of the nation. If held to its ro-eoru j and attacked by a solid denioeratic I party, fearless and pledged to the . greatest good to the greatest numb- t. ; its power should he broken in IT'-i I and its carei i oi evil sp odily brought i to a long- if m-’t perpetual, vacation. A Prophet of Failing Figures. j Tim average newspaper and Con- ■ gressional Record reader would con- j aider it rank arithmetical heresy for; any one to question the accuracy Ot ; computations having on them tiie re- | mark of Hon. Charley Grosvenor, eon- ; gressman from Ohio and prophet plen- i ipotentiary of the republic tn party. ; Still, there was a person on the | floor of the htiuse th- othc • day jumped ou Uncle Charley’s abraca dabra and made tiie buttons on it look like trointe centavos. He rtislted the dear old man into a nine-hole raid left him thme covered with confusion and a large pile: oi' the Ohioan s undi gested calculations. And just to M. -w that it is the rule | to kick the fellow who is down, it is ; again pointed out by another irrever ent rooster that Uncle Char'ey lias 1 made another mistake in claiming ! that “the republicans can carry t!ie| country easily withnit. Now leak.” Tiie figures of tl.e presidential elec-j fious since IS7G. when the Hayes- . Tilden robbery was perpetrated, show ■ ti nt New York state Ims been ncces-I sttry to every presidential candidal? of , either party who has had a majority , in the electoral college. Here is an- ■ cither good chance, then, for Uncle i Charley to rise to a question of per sonal privilege and explain his arith-i metical abberatiens. He Was Astonished. (From The New York World.) Washington. Representative ’Billy” I.orimcr, of Chicago, listene I to the t:ile of woe of a member w ho had many com plaints to make and many questions to ask. "It. seems to me, said Lorimer, “that ; you new •’haps are about ■.. unsophfsti- : rated as th- fellow who ■ inc- to C'hie.-igo ' and saw a wagon -a the sir ■ is or win -'.i •, pain ed the sign, ‘TC ■ Laundry.’ ■■ ’By go-hg he said. '1 didn't know any feller could make a living in this town washing eagles.’ ” « “Songs of the Soil” By FRANK L. STANTON A Christinas Brother. Winter Win' a-blowin'— Make de shutter slam; Don’t keer fer sleet or snowin’— I'll git my Chrls'mus dram: Make de shutter slam— Hit de steeple—ba-aml Don't kcer fer sleet or snowin’, I sho’ te.r git my dram! You hear dem bells a-iingin’ ? Fit have my turkey chance! You hear dat fiddle singin' Aly drain’ll make me dance! Malle de shutter slam— Hit de steeple—ba-am 1 Don't kcer fer sleet or snowin', I’ll git my Chris’mus drain! «$4 * » Christmas Notes from Billville. Coionel Bill Jones killed twenty Christ mas bogs yesterday and thoughtfully »aid two on tiie editor’s table. < ollections for the benefit of the Christmas heathen are being taken up. (Brethren, phase nmember that were tho biggest, heathen in the bunch!) We return thanks for Invitations to twenty Christmas dinners. (Oh, that we could distribute these dinners throughout ttie year!) Major Brown" offers six pairs of old bools to the poor. Ho does not think there are any snakes in the boots, but is not certain. For tiie greater convenience of our ap preciative Christmas citizens, the. moon shine distilleries have moved 3 miles near er town. If the gentleman who lost his razor at III.? holiday dance, Wednesday evening, ast, will apply at this otlico he can have tils property again. The Old Boy's Wish. 'I hough your hair is gray an’ thin. When the holidays come in Wish you wuz a. child ag'ln— ■Waitin' fer the Christmas! Wish yon wuz a curly-head. Tucked up thar, in mammy's bed, Wisiiin’—when the prayers are. said,— Wishin’ fer the Christmas' Now they come an' go so fast. Tother’s here 'fore one is past! i). that childhood da.js could last Wishin’ fer tiie Christinas! *• I> V • • •The Christmas Fellers. Bless dem II I’ fellers Film de eas' tor wes'l W’en de Christmas cornin' D.-.y lovin’ of you bes’l Never any trouble- Talkin'— laughin’ loud: LiT arms eroun’ you— Kisses fer de crowd! Mindin’ of dey mammy All de livelong day; Ktthnin’ of her errands— Never in de way! Ain't dey lIT schemers? Sho’ ez you is bo n! Bless do 11T dreamers ‘Twel dey hear de Chrls’mus ho’n! Young Enough To Dance. This Life’s a. curious riddle. But. Joy has still a chance: The old man’s got a Addle, An' we're young enough to dance! Then, hands all round, believer.’. Whatever may b fall! Tho mistletoe is temptin’. An' the holly wreathes the hall! Who cares for what com’s after. ■zitice n -w sc h joy Is found? We’ll shake the roof an’ rafter. An’ make tiie room go 'round! We see the Ivy dingin’ Who.ro the rose has little chance, But th. fiddle's jest a-slngin’, Au’ we're young enough to dance! Mister Christinas. Who dat knockin’ at de do’? Mister Chris’rnus! Been dis way son.? years befo’ Mister Chris’inns! Tell me dat my ha'r Is gray Dai I limnin’ by de way; . . health t« : _ .Mister ChrlTrntts! See! 2 ill's my hat ter you. Mister Cluis'nws! How to health. <n fam’bly, too. Mister Chris:'rnits? White, fros' kiverin' de group.', riddles takln’ all de town. Watch me swing Co ole gals roun’— Mister Chris'mus! The Children. Don't kcer fer de noise dey makln'- Senre d.-y lookin’ en fo.elin’ prime; Jx r m have dey wtay On de Chrls’mus day:— Dey kin only be young one time: L’etn sing in de lonesome valleys— On de hills whar dey romp en climb; Fer Time slips by Wid a song en sigh:— Dey kin only be young one time! Let the Good Times in. Hang Cat holly in de hall. (Fellers, now’s jo’ chance!) Shake de piet ires on de wall Whirlin’ in de dance! Good times—dey be n mighty long,— Folks got po' en thin; Now dey cornin' wid a song:— Let do good times in' The ‘‘Old Boys.” Old Time’s a tyrant with our joys. .At ■! mows ’em down at last, sir; We’ll join the dancing with the. hovs, Lut—please don t play sa fast, sir! We’ll swing the old girls once agaf (Each one o’ l item—we know her') Bat we shall join tho dance in vain. I nlc-s tho tune is slower! h!d Tinto Stands by:—Wo hoar him cough— i To warn its of our folly: He sees our gray wigs flying off 'Neath mistletoe and holly! Farewell the dance—the rosy girls— Tho world with music rife, sir; Thank lto. lV on that once wo kissed their eurls. And that’s enough for ’|fo. sir! The Christmas Blessing. 80-ide the fire, this wintry night. My fancies sweet, confessing. Your rod. sweet Uns—your eyes of light My Christmas blessing! That face—of earthly faces fair Tn me, sweetheart, the fairest: A little wreath of golden hair. Os gifts the dearest. And still this thought my soul uplifts ' To holiest Endeavor: Your love—your life, my greatest gifts ! Sweetheart, forever! PlUnksit’s Letter There always was a freedom from can (jhristmas time, and a spirit of fur. and frolic prevailed more thaai at other times. i I hone that this may always bo true, i but '‘cultui' ” and “progress" plays such I.x part in bringing changes new r drearn | . d of till they are upon us that it Is noth ing less than a patriotic duty of old folks to sound the alarm at every trend that drifts away from the Christmases as they used to be. Fifty yars 13 not long—not long after it ' is past, and young people will lind that lout for themselves it’ they live but the I changes that all old folks have wiutess led in that time Is wonderful. There are | a plenty of people Jiving now who can , remember well the Christmas occasions ■of fifty and sixty years ago, and fifty years hence there will' be old folks still, and these will r.member then the Christ mas occasions of today, and so we could ■ pass the principle down through time, it all going to show that every little clip that Is made toward a change. If allowed, carri's us away and away Iron, what we used to have and from what wo used/ to be. Some people may deem tiie time thrown away that is spent in dwelling on what wa used to have or what we used to be, but It is noV alto gether Idle as a preservative for such as was good, and as every generation must have its old, so every generation will have men and women to whom it will bo pleasing to live over again the years that have past ami study over wltai we used to have and what we used As lor the eld of today, we can only dwell upon conditions of fifty years ago and preserve whatever good that we can and pass it on down to the future, itc had our sweethearts then, and in this our southern country has changed ths least of ail tilings else. Love has remain ed about the same and may it ever re main the same Is worthy our greatest effort. Boys will read this who feel that they could just die tor some sweet girl, and they would. This is one of the true sincerities of the heart, where love real ly exists, and it has belonged to every generation of the south up to the present, but 1 can see. and all old folks can see,, that there is a weakening somewhere, young people now passing through thu glorious stage of ■■■-rurtship would not bear the hardships of inconw nience as they used to be borne—in other words, we ii.ivLj weakened according as we have been proteted, till the generation of to day demands protccuon and arc no more easy under pre: "nt boasted conditions than were the get. tari"ns/ of filly year? ago under the eonditions at that time. The ox cart and horseback riding was tltc commonest way of travel fifty years ago—the truth is tnat young people thought nothing of walking & or 6 miles to a country frolic, especially along about ! Christmas, and to go in an ox cart or . wagon was quite* aristocratic. The ox ■ cart has gone long ago. The horse and wagon will soon be gone. Electric cars land them heated will be demanded from now on till wn get flying machines, and ; then, 1 guess, the cars will go. Anyhow, i us tiie new tilings have come, we have ■ weal; tied to their use till I doubt if there I Is any more comforts In what we hav® and are today than there was in what I we used to have and what wo used to I be. But no matter what may come or : how we may weaken, as long as tho ; sweet affection hinted at between young folks remains, and tiie holy love of moth erhood is a part of our race, the world will be safe and there will always be some happ> store for Christmas. j There was} a tine old Frenchman came j out the other il.i.i, and tin.- and Brown j made it our pleasure to go with him jto where McPherson was kllicd and I oilier points of hu* 226. of July battle. Mie says that lie h. .- avoided the citk Its much as possible since he has been iin lliis coiuiuy, and expres.-es himself ias perfectly deiigiit'd w.;lj country life las he has found it in tlio soutii, and cs- I pecially her,? in Georgia. He envies Gcor ; glans their heritage in womanhood ami praises the spirit which r ites so high y : the holy love of man and wife. : Ho gave us a sorry picture of cohdi : lions that have grow:, by a loose and iuw estimate oi the marriage reiation in ; I’rance. He has traveled greatly, tins i man itas, and in hesitates not in hi, cmn | parisons of countries. When he r.-mark j ed that the lads and las.-ies of Irel '-I ( ami Scot.and were the only young p, o title he had eve- met that compt■• d wi'e ! the young country people of the h. Brown was disposed to be rescnifm. i, .: 1 knew it was bc; use an Irl bruised him tip last Christmas and ■< Scotchman beat him in a horse swap ti.is summer, and I silenced him. l owev- : the Frenchman was soon In my old friend’s good graces again, when 1..,. wmii :to bragging on our Georgia wine ■ i bought a dozen quarts. He suited exactly in Lils act. and I verily jib ■ that the old .sinner would have be, wi:n the Frenchman till yet if it had not be, tor me—especially if lie had kept on , .y ing wine. When the Frcnchm.'.;i . i at tlir.il stage when he was about e.id to listen to anything or drink wine agai s anybody and Brown had about utriv at that stage where I knew he wou. 1 gi'. a him ;i vurtc oi? the old aong- “Georgia girls, whom none sur’cisas, They’re as sweet as sorghum lass s. 1 broke up the picnic and cavied my old friend home. But 1 am glad we met this Frenehma:-. and 1 am glad that, he approves the as fcctionate sentiments that exist between young sweethearts in Georgia when Christmas spirit is on them. Court’ ,g a pretty girl was good enough tor m - * at any time, but it was better /it Christ mas, and it is mj- notion that as long a? we can keep our Christmases any;!:, g like they used to be. we are. safe from sad and demoralized conditions that ;i'/» confront France. Think about it. What would Chris: mas be without sweethearts a- long the be.'S and giris, and losing young mothers and old mothers, and young fathers ami old fathers, with grandmothers and grand fathers thrown In? What would it be? True, the young daddies are not so very much, and the o.d daddies are nothi g at all, for man amounts to verv little tn this world, but women women old or young, no matter their age, women pur and loving, these are the great things ot the world, they halo the heat thstoic they stive the race. I would not give tho love of one .sweet Georgia girl for all the glory that ever was in France’s fashions or I* rance s wars or Voltair’s pholosophy or Tom Paine’s fame. Give me Christ mas and Christ preserve to us the purity ot southern womanhood tis we have known it in the past, with the ties that bind i.s man and wife, and tit, world is safe, “isms'- d, thro.x the hypocrite de t< ated, and parentai authority, given its proper dignity, will leaven tho whole Info Lupp.y families and a nation of power.

Georgia Historic Newspapers

The Atlanta constitution. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, December 21, 1903, Page 6, Image 6